Mirror, Mirror
by cheri1
Summary: 10/Rose with Donna. Rose is gone but the Doctor finds her again. But what he finds is far from the Rose he knew. The Rose he finds is an evil mirror image who wants to see the Doctor and Donna dead.
1. Prologue

A/N: I finished reading Martha in the Mirror and I thought the idea of mirror people was cool so I decided to loosely base this story on that concept but with Donna and Rose instead of Martha.

Prologue

(Kingdom of Atalantia, 2006…)

"So why are we here?" Rose said as she walked beside the Doctor.

"I have been asked to help negotiate a peace treaty between the Atalantians and the Morgos. Don't ask me how they found me," the Doctor said to her. "I'm hoping it won't take ages though. Negotiations always bore me."

Rose nodded in agreement. They were inside a castle that would have looked right at home in medieval Britain. In fact, Rose thought it resembled a fairytale castle with the stone walls and tapestries lining the hallway. Except the tapestries had alien creatures on them. The Doctor stopped and examined one and Rose did the same. He pointed to the tapestry in front of them. It depicted a tall thin alien battling a dragon. The alien had white skin with black spots all over it like a Dalmatian. It was dressed in a toga and holding a spear while a black dragon menaced him with an open mouth filled with sharp teeth.

"These are the Atalantians," the Doctor said, pointing to the alien. "I believe this is one of their myths. Something about slaying a dragon that guarded his castle. Probably along the lines of Saint George or something."

"And do they still wear those toga things now?" Rose said.

"I don't think so. This was far into their past. I think they're more into space age bodysuits and tech now. But they are still warlike and a very fierce and proud people which is why I have to be here to negotiate a peace treaty. I think I'm gonna change my phone number or the TARDIS's phone number so no one can find me anymore."

The Doctor walked on and Rose followed him. They walked into a cavernous room that had several long wooden tables in it. At the back of the room was a fireplace that the TARDIS could easily fit into. The same dragon that Rose had seen in the tapestry was in a banner hanging above it and stone dragons were sitting upright on either side of it.

"They must like that dragon," Rose said, pointing out the fireplace and banner.

"I think that's the emblem of the kingdom," the Doctor said as they headed to the table nearest the fireplace.

Rose looked around. There were several large arched windows on either side of the room and she noticed the dragon emblem was painting in the middle of each one. The twin suns illuminated the room and made it look cozier than it felt to Rose. The tables each had wooden high back chairs that also had the dragon carved into the back of them. In front of each table was a little name card and the Doctor and Rose found their places at the front table near the end of the table. At the head of their table was a gold throne with the dragon carved into the back of it. The dragon on the throne had rubies for eyes and it was breathing fire. Rose examined it for a moment before she walked over to her chair. The Doctor was across from her and he whistled cheerfully while he leaned back in his chair and looked around. Slowly, Atalantians filed in and sat at the different tables but none sat at theirs.

"Feeling a bit lonely," the Doctor said.

Rose noticed that the Atalantians were wearing togas similar to the one in the tapestry but she didn't say anything to the Doctor about being right since the Doctor would find a way to negate her argument. When they were seated, Atalantians in black togas brought in silver trays laden with fruit, meat and silver goblets filled with drink. One of the female Atalantians brought over a tray to the Doctor and Rose and sat it between them. Rose picked up a purple fruit that looked like a plum and tasted it. It was a bit tart but Rose liked it and she stuck to those while the Doctor ate something that looked like a chicken leg. Rose took one of the goblets and looked into it. The liquid was brown and resembled Coke but when she tasted it, it was more like vanilla ice cream and she licked her lips and took a bigger sip. While they ate, an Atalantian dressed in a regal looking purple toga entered the room and raised his hands for silence. The room fell silent and he lowered his arms.

"Fellow Atalantians and friends," he said. "I present to you, the Morgon ambassador, Zella and his delegation."

Zella entered the room with the Atalantian and Rose was taken aback at how huge he was. The man was a giant; at least fifteen feet and his delegation were just as big. The Morgos were rock people and their bodies looked like they'd been carved out of stone. They were naked except for a loincloth that the men wore around their private parts. Zella led the Morgos to the front table and Rose noticed that one of them carried a large mirror in his hands. The mirror's frame was gold and carved so it looked like two dragons were holding onto the mirror. The eyes of the dragons were diamonds that sparkled in the sunlight and Rose thought it was beautiful. But the mirror itself was covered over with a brown tarp. The Morgos came up to the table but the chairs were so tiny they couldn't sit in them. The Atalantian sat on the throne and Zella walked up to his side while the delegation stood by the fireplace.

"Lord Nyan," Zella said to the Atalantian. "I come here in good faith and as proof of that, I bring you a gift. This mirror."

He beckoned to the Morgo holding the mirror and the man walked up and bowed respectfully before showing Nyan the mirror.

"Thank you, Zella, I am pleased with the gift," Nyan said.

He asked the Morgo to put the mirror by the fireplace and he gently put it down by it. The mirror was seven feet in diameter and Rose found herself staring at it throughout the proceedings, admiring its beauty while the Doctor listened to both parties and added his thoughts and gave suggestions.

The negotiations lasted about four hours with everyone eating while they spoke and listened to each other. When they decided to take a break, Rose decided to look at the mirror more closely. She walked over, lifted up the tarp and put most of it on top of the mirror so she wouldn't have to hold it. She stood in front of it, admiring herself while she admired the mirror at the same time. Then something happened. Rose's jaw dropped when the reflection blurred for a moment and when it sharpened back into focus; Rose's reflection was dressed in a long black dress that was low cut, showing a hint of cleavage. The sleeves were long with ruffles around her wrists. Her hair was up in a bun on top of her head and just in front of it was a small silver diadem that had a ruby in the center of it. But what shocked Rose the most was the expression on the reflection's face. Reflection Rose had a haughty look on her face and a sneer on her lips. Rose quickly pulled the tarp back down and when the mirror was covered, she ran to tell the Doctor what happened.

Because of Rose's sneak peek, the Morgos plot to take over Atalantia by giving their enemies an enchanted mirror that produces an evil mirror image of whoever looked into it. What Rose saw was herself as the opposite of what she was, evil, arrogant and cruel instead of loving, kind and gentle. Once the image was produced, the mirror became a portal that would allow the mirror image to enter the real world. The Doctor ordered the mirror to be destroyed before anything happened but he wasn't able to stay and make sure it was done because peace talks fell apart after the plot was discovered. He tried to convince Nyan to let him have the mirror so he could destroy it and make sure it was destroyed but Nyan insisted that they knew how to deal with it. The Doctor was asked to leave with Rose since he was no longer needed and the Doctor, disgusted at the dismissal, told Rose there was nothing he could do and both of them headed back to their TARDIS. As they left the great hall, the Doctor took one last look back over his shoulder and hoped that Nyan would be able to destroy the mirror before anything bad happened.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

(Two years later…)

Donna was sitting on the jump seat in the console room, relaxing while she stared at the rotor. When she first started traveling with the Doctor she noticed that he spent most of his time in here and she wondered what he did to occupy himself since there was only the console. She noticed that he often sat and stared at the rotor and she thought he was barmy until she tried it and realized that it was quite soothing in a meditative way. The sound of the rotor calmed her and she found herself staring at it and zoning out as it moved up and down inside the central column. She had relaxed so much and was paying so much attention to the rotor that she nearly jumped out of her skin when the Doctor bounded into the room carrying a large box in his arms.

"Donna! There you are!" he said while Donna put her hand over her rapidly beating heart.

"They need to put a bell on ya!" Donna growled as he came up to her.

"You mean like this?"

The Doctor sat the box down, opened it and picked up a large silver bell. The bell had a wooden handle with plastic holly and berries tied around it. The Doctor rang it and it made a tinkling sound.

"That's pretty," Donna said.

"It's Christmassy, which is what is needed around here. I feel like Christmas today," he said.

He paused when Donna made a face.

"Oh yeah, you don't like Christmas," he said. "But that's because you haven't spent Christmas with me! I'll jingle your bell like no one else!"

"Ugh!" Donna said. "But I s'pose you'll be takin' us to Planet of the Santas now?"

"I was hoping to take you somewhere Christmassy, yes."

"You do remember what happened to me on Christmas, right?"

"Oh, that was one Christmas, Donna. Christmas is not boring and daft, not when you're with me! I can show you wonders you'll never believe! I can make Christmas come alive in ways you never dreamed! So…will you indulge me and bring out the child within, just for today?"

Donna looked at his pleading face and her heart melted.

"Blimey, you're the biggest flippin' kid I've ever seen," she said, ruffling his hair affectionately. "Okay, I'll go along with ya and let you take me to Christmasland."

Her heart warmed when he beamed at that. She loved seeing his smile and boyish enthusiasm, especially since most of the time he didn't have a chance to show it. The Doctor put the bell in the box and picked up a little plush reindeer. He gave it to Donna before he walked over to the console. Donna smiled when she looked at the reindeer. It was brown with a red nose and a jingle bell collar. She held it to her chest while she stood and walked over to the box. It was filled with Christmas ornaments, some of them Donna thought might be antique. Donna was about to ask the Doctor where he got some of the ornaments when she heard a beeping coming from the monitor followed by the Doctor's groan. She walked over to the monitor and noticed something was flashing on the screen but all she saw was a series of concentric circles and she had no idea what it said. She noticed the Doctor was sullen though and she knew it couldn't be good.

"We have to cancel Christmas," the Doctor said, shaking his head.

"What? Why?"

"Distress signal," the Doctor said, pointing to the screen.

"Ignore it," Donna said, wanting to see the smile and enthusiasm return to his face.

"Can't. It's addressed to me," the Doctor said.

"You're in a time machine. Go celebrate Christmas and answer it when you get back."

"Can't. I can't ignore it. I swore to help where I could. This may be urgent. I'm sorry, Donna, we'll have to postpone it rather than cancel it. I want to celebrate Christmas but this has to come first. Okay?"

Donna wanted to protest but she knew this was what the Doctor did and she knew when she asked to come back that she'd be helping him fight evil in the universe. If the Doctor felt it was important who was she to argue with him. She nodded and the Doctor patted her shoulder.

"We will go, I promise, I just have to see what this distress signal is," he said.

Donna, to her surprise, actually was disappointed…severely disappointed. That was the Doctor though, he made everything seem like an adventure, even something she hated like Christmas. But maybe it was because she liked seeing him happy and now he wasn't. He was back to his serious self. Donna held the reindeer close to her while the Doctor hit a button near the monitor. The message stopped blinking and it changed to a different set of concentric circles. The Doctor read what it said and then suddenly he took a step back with a stricken look on his face.

"What's wrong? What does it say?" Donna said.

"Can't be," the Doctor murmured.

"Can't be, what?" Donna said. "What's wrong?"

"It…it's from Rose."

Donna raised an eyebrow.

"Your Rose?" she said.

The Doctor nodded.

"And that's bad?" Donna said. "Don't you want to see her again?"

"Yes, but…how did she get back?" the Doctor said. "That universe was sealed off."

"She's sending you a message from the other universe then?"

The Doctor shook his head.

"No. She says she's here in this universe."

"But…why is it in your writing? It is your writing, isn't it?"

"The TARDIS did that. It translates important messages into Gallifreyan for privacy," he said to her.

"So what does she say then?" Donna said, gesturing to the monitor.

"It says, when I last saw you on Bad Wolf Bay, I vowed I would find you again someday. I missed you, Doctor, with all my heart. I was tormented when we were apart. Now I'm back and fulfilled my vow but I'm in trouble, I need you now."

"So she sent the distress signal as a poem?" Donna said.

"Rose was feeling a bit creative, I s'pose," the Doctor said with a shrug.

"She didn't say where she was though."

"Yes, she did. She gave the place and planet after the poem," the Doctor said, pointing to a tiny concentric circle near the bottom of the monitor.

"And where is she?" Donna said.

"Atalantia."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Well, last time we visited Atalantia, her and me, the Atalantians were trying to broker a peace treaty with the Morgo. But it fell apart after a plot was uncovered where the Morgos would have been able to take over the kingdom. We were asked to leave after that and I've never been back. Why would Rose be there?"

"Maybe as proof that she's really back?"

The Doctor thought that over.

"Perhaps…if this is a distress signal, perhaps she was abducted by the Atalantians or Morgo and being held by them until I come back. I can't wait, Donna, I have to see what's wrong."

"Yes, go to her," Donna said, hoping this meant that Rose would come back to him and make him happy again.

The Doctor entered the coordinates for Atalantia in his computer while Donna put the reindeer back in the box.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The Doctor opened the door and stepped outside with Donna onto the surface of Atalantia. Donna stopped short when she saw the Nyan's castle and her mouth fell open. The castle was ten stories high and her head fell back while she tried to see the top of it.

"My God, how rich is this person?" she said to the Doctor. "He must be very powerful."

"Perhaps, but then again, perhaps he's just compensating for something."

Donna looked at him and saw the impish grin on his face.

"Only you would think of that," she said to him while he sniggered.

He sobered up and began calling for Rose. Donna walked off to the right and called with him. Donna walked over to the entrance, a twenty foot high wooden double door that had an iron gate in front of it and called for Rose there. Then she heard a clanking sound and turned to the gate when she noticed it was going up.

"Doctor, look!" Donna said.

The Doctor turned and told Donna to come to him to be safe. They stood about thirty feet away and watched while the gate went up completely. Then they heard the doors unlocking and the one on right opened. Donna watched while a blonde woman stuck her head outside. She suddenly realized she'd never seen any photos of Rose before but judging from the awestruck expression on the Doctor's face, this was definitely Rose.

"Doctor?" she said, stepping outside.

"Rose," the Doctor said softly before swallowing hard.

Donna glanced at him and knew he was trying to keep his emotions in check. When the Doctor took a step towards her, she followed him. She noticed Rose giving her a curious look and she smiled warmly, trying to let her know that she wanted to be her friend. Rose was wearing a long, white dress that was cinched at the waist. On the chest was an embroidered dragon with pearl eyes. The sleeves were long and the collar was high with lace around the top. Her hair was done up in a bun and she noticed a ruby ring on her right ring finger. She stopped and the Doctor and Donna stopped about two feet from her. There was an awkward silence for a moment before Rose rushed to the Doctor and they embraced. Donna stepped back, her heart warming when a huge smile spread over the Doctor's face.

"I missed you so much," Rose murmured into his shoulder.

"And I missed you. How did you get back? And why did you come here? And what are you wearing?" he teased as they broke apart.

"I was a guest of the Atalantians. I came through naked so they lent this to me," Rose said. "Who is this?"

"I'm Donna Noble, I'm travelin' with the Doctor," she said, stepping forward to shake her hand. "I've heard about you a bit from the Doctor, it's nice to meet you in person finally."

"Nice to meet you," Rose said, nodding.

"Why did you come here?" the Doctor said.

"When we opened the portal, I tried to think of places I could go and I thought I could come here. Perhaps see if the Atalantians might need our help again?"

"And?" the Doctor said, "do they?"

"No. They're still at war with the Morgo," Rose said.

The Doctor groaned.

"Figures. I think they'll be at war for generations to come. But…why did you send a distress signal to the TARDIS."

"Because the Atalantians have vanished," Rose said.

"Vanished where?" the Doctor said.

"I don't know. One moment Nyan was speaking to me and there was a huge flash and everyone vanished. I searched the castle but there's no one except me."

"Why weren't you taken then?" Donna said.

"Transmat," the Doctor said.

"You mean like teleport," Donna said. "Like in The Library?"

"Yes."

"Okay, but why didn't it take Rose then if it was castle-wide?" Donna said.

"Perhaps the transmat was programmed to scan for only Atalantian DNA. That would be one explanation," the Doctor said. "But why take everyone? Unless the Morgo are up to something?" he looked at Rose. "Did they mention the Morgo?"

"They said they were still at war with them," Rose said. "I thought maybe you could talk to them and bring them and the Morgo back together to talk peace but then the white light came and now there's nothing."

The Doctor nodded, thinking over what she said. He had a thought and glanced at Rose.

"The mirror, did you see it anywhere?"

"Mirror?" Donna said as Rose shook her head. "What mirror?"

The Doctor told her about the mirror and Donna's eyes widened.

"And this mirror can make a copy of anyone who looks into it?" Donna said.

"Yes. But as far as I know, no one looked into it before the plot was discovered," the Doctor said. "I told Nyan to destroy the thing before he pushed me and Rose out the door. And you didn't see it, anywhere?"

"Not in the rooms I was in," Rose said with a shrug.

"Then we need to make a search of the castle to make sure it's well and truly gone," the Doctor said. "But first things first, how did you cross the void?"

"There was a rip in the fabric of time and space and I crossed it," Rose said.

"How? You surely didn't just jump into it and walk across to this universe."

"No. A capsule was made and I rode in it to the other side."

The Doctor studied her face. He could tell she was lying but he had no idea why she was. He wondered if the way she had chosen to return was dangerous and nearly imperiled the universe and she was trying not to own up to the fact that she nearly destroyed reality. He decided to pretend he didn't know she was lying and see if she would tell him the truth in her own time. He thought that perhaps since Donna was here and she'd never met her until now that she was a bit hesitant to speak openly around her.

"Well, let's go inside and see if we can find out what happened here," the Doctor said, putting an arm around both his women.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Donna whistled when they were inside and she saw how grand the interior was.

"Like a fairy tale castle, complete with dragons," she said, pointing to the tapestries as they walked through the corridor. "If I were a ruler, I'd choose something like this. This is wizard!"

"And enormous," the Doctor said.

"Yeah, that as well. I don't think I'd like that part of it. Too much to clean," Donna said.

They entered the great hall and the Doctor was amazed to find it looked almost the same as it did the first time he and Rose came here. The tables were still in the same place and the chairs and throne were grouped around them. The only thing that was different was the mirror was gone. The Doctor hoped that meant the mirror had been destroyed. He put his hands in his pockets and sauntered up to the front while Donna stopped and looked around, her jaw almost to the floor.

"My God, you could feed an army in here," Donna said. "And hide them in the fireplace. Like I said, he must be very powerful."

"Very powerful and very foolish," the Doctor said. "He could use his power to make a different in the universe but instead he spends his time fighting his neighbors. And now apparently he and his retinue have been spirited away somewhere."

He whipped out his sonic screwdriver.

"Rose, where you in here when the flash occurred?" he asked her.

"Yes."

The Doctor scanned the room with his screwdriver while Donna wandered over to the windows and looked at the dragon design on them. His back was to Rose which was a good thing because he had a confused look on his face when his screwdriver didn't detect any sign of residual energy from transmats or any other teleport. Warning flags started going off in his mind but he kept calm as he put his screwdriver back in his pocket.

"Well?" Rose said.

"I found a residual trace of energy from the transmat," the Doctor said to her. "I can trace the energy trail back to the source and find out who did it but I need the TARDIS for that. But in the meantime, we'll make sure the mirror is gone from this place. Rose, come with me. We'll check the upper levels if you'll check the ground floor, Donna."

"No worries. I'll be fine," Donna said. "Go on and check the rooms with Rose."

"Good. Rose, come with me. We can get reacquainted while we check," he said to her before he and Rose left the room.


End file.
